Effects of diet and manure storage method on carbon and nitrogen dynamics during storage and plant nitrogen uptake

Niu, M and Appuhamy, J.A.D.R.N and Dungan, R.S. and Kebreab, Ermias and Leytem, A.B. (2017) Effects of diet and manure storage method on carbon and nitrogen dynamics during storage and plant nitrogen uptake. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 250:51-58. 1 December 2017.

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Abstract

Altering dairy cattle diets to reduce both enteric methane (CH4) production and nitrogen (N) excretion are valuable tools for mitigating the environmental impact of dairy production. We examined the impact of altering diets on changes in physicochemical properties of manure during storage, short term plant N availability, and overall system N use efficiency. Manure collected from cattle fed diets with differing forage and crude protein (CP) content were stored via three methods (slurry, static pile, turned pile) for 29 weeks and sampled at week 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, and 29. Mass losses of total carbon (C) ranged from 28 to 50% and followed the trend static pile > slurry > turned pile (P < 0.01). Total N losses ranged from 20 to 47% with the slurry and static pile treatments having larger (but similar) losses than the turned pile treatment (P < 0.01). The soil 2-week plant available N was similar in the static pile and turned pile treatments and were 67% less than the slurry treatment. The short-term plant N use efficiency was similar for both the static pile and slurry treatments (22-24%), which were greater than that of the turned pile treatment (16%). Overall estimated system N use efficiencies were 5% greater for lower CP diets compared to high CP diets. While rapidly drying manure may conserve C and N, there may be a tradeoff with plant N utilization which could affect overall system efficiencies.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1605
Subjects:	Animal > Feed preference Animal Manure
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	20 Sep 2017 20:42
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2017 20:42
Item ID:	1648
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1648